Turquoise
by tabathaleigh
Summary: Charlie is just your everyday sword fighting ballerina living with her grandfather in London, England. However, her fate takes a shocking turn when the truth of who she is and who her parents are, finally comes out, but it's not that simple... Will this modern girl be able to survive 16th century Japan? Will these men be able to handle this awkward yet sassy woman? (Might turn M)
1. Chapter 1: Third Person

_A baby girl with beautiful black hair and deep brown eyes… _

_ The baby's bleeding mother was cradling the crying girl hard against her chest as she watched her husband die before her very eyes. 'Mai…' The woman ran over to her dying husband with tears streaming down her perfect face and tainting her beautiful happiness... 'Take this…' With shaky, bloodstained hands, he handed her a necklace with a gold incasing and a clear stone on the inside. _

_ 'Put this around her neck… and continue to… Iga… She must be handed to her new… guardian.' He paused as he spit up more blood, which caused the woman to cry even more. 'But If anything were to happen to her body… her soul will be casted into this… I lov-' The woman let out a loud sob as her husband wasn't even able to finish his last words to her before taking his last breath. _

_ Not caring about her fatal injury, the woman stood up, slipped the necklace around the frightened newborn, and ran as fast as she could through the forest while clutching her side as she bleed out. Only for a couple minutes of running, the woman could see the beautiful village of Iga just over the hill… 'We are close… We are going to be okay.' The mother said to the beautiful girl; however, her eyes would fool anyone. _

_ Almost there… _

_ 'Hehe, apparently our first assault didn't work on you. Hand over the child, and maybe we will think about putting you out of your misery.' The man in blue sneered and laughed menacingly at the pained woman._

_ 'You will never have her!' The woman mustered up what was left of her ninja skills and sped off with her daughter, who was still clutched to her mother's chest by one arm. As the woman came up to the gates of Iga, her hopes of living rose deep in her heart; however, that hope soon faded as an arrow pierced completely through her… and the child._

_ 'No!' The women yelled out as blood splurged from her mouth while her baby let out a pained cry. The men in blue disappeared back into the forest as the elder of Iga, along with who seemed to be his young son around 15 years-old with the same navy hair, came running to the gates to help the dying nobility. The older man and his young son gasped at the horrible heart-wrenching site. _

_ The woman kissed her daughter's forehead as she felt her baby's life leave her little body forever before looking up to the village elder as she pulled the necklace off her daughter's neck and tried to give it to him. 'Take the necklace, Give it to her new guardian to put on an unharmed body… This is the key to everything… It harnesses her soul... ' With that, the woman fell limp while embracing her dead daughter in her arms with the necklace still in her hand, and as the elder picked up the necklace, the stone had completely faded to turquoise._

_ BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

Charlie jolted from her sleep with a loud gasp while clutching her chest as if she was in an immense amount of pain. "For once, I'm actually thankful my alarm went off…" The young woman said in a soft, British accent as she tried to free herself from the entangled mess of blankets. "I swear… that bloody dream is becoming more realistic every night…" She tried shaking the horrendous scene of the dead mother and child before pushing off her large bed and heading to her bathroom to turn on the shower. "I will have to talk to Grandfather about this when I see him at breakfast…"

The young woman patted away from the shower to the mirror, but only to jump in fright as she gazed at her reflection; her already pale, olive-tinted skin, was even more pale, her long light-brown hair was plastered to her head with sweat, and her gray fitted tank top was a shade darker down her spine. Charlie shook off her nightmarish looks as she took off her clothes before turning on the shower and stepping in to let the warm water engulf her petite body like a comforting fire.

After washing her hair with rose scented shampoo and conditioner and washing her body with the matching body wash, she turned to look in the mirror again while dropping her towel. "It probably wouldn't hurt me to gain some weight…" Charlie said aloud as she lifted her right arm above her head to make the already barely visible rib cage even more visible, and in the process, she traced the secret tattoo of a flock of birds in white ink that stretched across the side of her rib cage and slightly up her back. '_Grandfather would be so pissed if he knew about this…'_ Charlie giggled mischievously to herself as she thought about what her overprotective Grandfather's reaction would be. As the girl ran a towel through her long hair, her mind wondered back to her nightmare, _'Why do I keep having this dream… Am I that baby girl?' _

"No, that can't be! I look nothing like her!" The girl took her blow drier and started drying her hair. After she was done, she lightly curled the ends of her thick hair that hit right at her belly button before pulling it into a pretty ponytail and then, putting on a little mascara to help make her large turquoise eyes stand out even more. Charlie never wore face make-up because she never needed it; her complexion was perfect and the envy of pretty much every woman in London.

Once she was done, she made her way to her closet and pulled out a thick oversized grey sweater that was a little below mid-thigh to go over her leotard. She went over to her dresser to grab what she needed for ballet. She put on nude ballet tights, a white leotard with a swoop neck and long sleeves, and black over the knee socks to wear as she walked to the ballet studio. Before leaving she picked up her dance bag and gave herself a once over in the full-length mirror. Despite her personality being slightly awkward in front of mostly everyone, besides her grandfather and best friend, she is rather confident with who she is and the way she looks... The beautiful girl smiled to herself at her entire ensemble before walking out the door.

….

"Today's the day… I can just feel it." The old Japanese man said aloud before being brought to reality by his granddaughter coming down the stairs of their cute London home.

"What's happening today, Poppy?" The old man was asked then greeted by a warm hug.

"Oh nothing… Just the day I get my package in from Japan… Say, do you have sword training today or ballet? I just can't remember…" The old man laughed while scratching the back of his head out of slight nervousness. Charlie dismissed how funny her Grandfather's reply sounded and his secretive body language.

"I have ballet today. Speaking of, Maya _might_ be coming over afterwards and practice some more with me." She smiled and sat down at the table that had a bowl of delicious and homemade Japanese influenced porridge waiting for her. The young woman couldn't help but think back to how she doesn't look Japanese at all even though her mother was Japanese and her father was English. _'I guess I just inherited my father's genes… I should really stop thinking so hard on that.' _

"Poppy… I had that nightmare again. But this time, it seemed more real than ever. As if, I could feel the pain of that arrow pierce through me like it did that mother and baby. I have a slight feeling that this nightmare is significant to my parents…" Her Grandfather just waved his hand in the air as if to brush it off.

"I'm sure it means nothing... But, you and Maya sure do love ballet! Maybe you two should take a break for once! The both of you work so hard, especially you, little princess." Charlie smiled at her nickname that she has been called for the past 19 years; this made her forget the vague reply from her grandfather as her fears instantly faded away at this comfortable nostalgia.

"Well, _The Nutcracker _is coming up soon, and I am the 'Sugar Plum Princess' and Maya is the lead in the 'Waltz of the Flowers' as well as my understudy, so, it doesn't hurt to have extra practice…" The young woman looked at her grandfather with an apologetic smile that made the frail man shake his head in amusement; if he was right about something, it was her undying love for ballet. Charlie_ finally_ started to eat her porridge and completely missed the worried look that ran across her Grandfather's face as he thought about how she would react when she finds out the truth.

After about 10 minutes or so, Charlie stood up with her empty bowl, washed it off, put it in the dishwasher, and came back over to her Grandfather and kissed his balding head. "I guess we will go by the coffeeshop to relax a bit before coming back here. See you later!" She hugged her grandfather then went to the door, slung her dance bag over her shoulder, slipped on her black ankle boots, and left.

As she headed down the stairs from the front door she looked back to the window to see that her grandfather was slowly pacing back and forth, "I wonder what has been on his mind… It's not like him to be like this." Charlie tried to convince herself that it wasn't anything too serious and continued walking down the street to the professional ballet studio.

….

"Hanzo, are we almost ready?" Hanzo turned to a ninja with bright red hair who stood with his arms crossed with a slightly arrogant smile.

"Goemon… you know we are just waiting for the others."

"Not anymore you're not!" A big man with orange hair and a claw like scar on his left cheek, bounded in with a large smile plastered across his face.

"I apologize, Master Hanzo, but as you know, _Sasuke_ here is still just a boy."

"I am _not _a boy, Saizo! I'm more of a man than you!" Sasuke shouted as Saizo just shook his head in annoyance.

"I believe we should focus back on the mission." A quiet man with white hair appeared out of nowhere inside the room.

"Kotaro is right, it's time we retrieve the princess. Priest, when you're ready, start the incantation." The older man nodded his head at Hanzo's words as he pulled out the now empty gold necklace and laid it on the floor.

….

"Finally…" The old man stopped pacing and made his way to his study as he heard the stone rattle violently in the tightly sealed drawer he kept it hidden in. As he came up to the drawer, he pulled out the key that keeps the stone locked away, opened it, grabbed the now clear stone, placed it in the open space of the sitting room, and watched as the stone flashed a bright blinding light then faded where he could see 5 ninjas sprawled on the floor.

….Time Skip….

"Fay! Pull your head from your bum and focus!" Charlie cringed as her ballet instructor yelled her last name to gain her attention from spacing out in the middle of her variation.

"My apologies, Miss Catherine. I promise it won't happen again." The small girl faced her teacher in first position while looking down at her warn pointe shoes.

"Go home and practice. We are done for the day anyway." The tall ballet instructor said with an irritated tone as she dismissed the class but only after she gave Charlie a sad look. Charlie sighed as soon as her teacher shut the door of her office.

"Char, are you alright? You've been wonky for the past five hours, and not just in your dancing." Maya asked in her slight cockney accent as she gracefully walked over to her best friend with a concerned look plastered across her tan face. Maya was tall, slender, and beautiful with a curly mass of long chocolate brown hair. She had a natural brown tan, due to her father being from India, and large almond shaped hazel/green eyes. The two friends complimented each other beautifully in looks and personality.

"I don't know… I just feel like Poppy is keeping something from me." Charlie started to dress back in her grey sweater and then sat down to un-lace her pointe shoes before slipping on her black socks and boots.

"Do you think it might have something to do with your nightmare?" Charlie looked up at her friend, who had on a similar outfit except the sweater was navy and she had slipped on grey dance shorts over her tights, and nodded her head. "Well, let's try and forget for a bit. It's just after 2, and didn't you tell Poppy that we were going to go to the coffeeshop?" Maya exclaimed at her best friend with a pearly smile. Charlie just looked up at her tall friend, smiled, and nodded her head yes "Well, what are we waiting for? The fitties aren't going to be there forever!" Charlie rolled her eyes at her boy crazy friend and followed her out the door with her dance bag in tow. However, she couldn't forget; she still couldn't shake the memory of her grandfather pacing back in forth through the window of the front room. _'It's unlike him to be anxious like that…'_

….

"So, the girl isn't Japanese?" Saizo asked the frail old man. The elder looked at Saizo and shook his head.

"I thought you were going to choose a girl who looked like the baby princess." Hanzo stated rather than asked.

"Well, she looked like her when she was a baby, but her looks changed as she got older, which was not something I was expecting…" The old man trailed off as he saw Hanzo walk over to the mantle of the fireplace where a picture of a young girl of 16 was placed. Her light-brown hair was pulled into a thick ballet bun; she wore a beautiful cream-colored beaded tutu piece and was posed in an Attitude position while en pointe. Hanzo couldn't help but be mesmerized at the young girl's smile. The navy haired man turned to see Goemon and Sasuke on either side of him.

"Is this the girl?" Goemon turned to the old man. He smiled and nodded at the red haired ninja.

"Yes, that is Charlie when she was 16. She's 19 now..."

"Charlie? You didn't keep her real-" Saizo was cut off by the sound of the front door opening. All seven men turned their attention to where they heard the door open; however, they couldn't see the smiling girl since the sitting room was slightly blocked by a wall from the front door.

"Poppy? I'm back. Maya had to run home for a bit, but she should still be coming over later… I'm going upstairs to practice now. I'll try not to bother you with the music." Charlie took off her shoes and walked around the corner to the sitting room, but instantly stopped as 5 men she has never seen before greeted her with a shocked look; however, one of the 5 looked strangely like the young boy from her nightmares. The old man pulled his granddaughter into the room.

Charlie suddenly became self-conscious by the length of her grey sweater; she was able to sneak in a few pulls before standing completely in front of the attractive men. She couldn't help but notice a few smirks pull across the lips of a man with red hair and another man with black/purple hair as she did. "Friends, I would like you to meet my granddaughter, Charlie." The gorgeous girl smiled, which caused every man in front of her to lightly blush because of the unexpected beauty that radiated from the stunning woman. Charlie noticed their blushes as she tried not to do, or say, anything awkward, which, ultimately, always fails…

"Wow! Aren't you pretty!" The big man with orange hair said as he leaped over to stand in front of the small girl who quickly jumped back as fast as he leapt to her. "And so tiny, too! You are a cutie! I'm Sasuke." He smiled warmly and picked up the frightened girl into a hug then set her back down on her feet.

"Sasuke, do you not have any manners? I'm Saizo. Sasuke and I are both from Koga." The dark haired man with a feather hanging down said as he crossed over to Charlie. The girl couldn't help but look at him with a confused expression, _'Koga?'_

"I'm Kotaro of the Fuma clan." The quiet man with snow-white hair said as he bowed to the still dazed girl.

"And I'm Goemon of Iga…" _'Iga…' _The man with red hair came over to Charlie with a smirk while almost draping his arm around her shoulder. Charlie quickly ducked under his arm and ran into Sasuke who tried to pick her up again, but she quickly dodged him in a flash and in a blink of an eye the girl was on the other side of the room by her grandfather once more with his arm securely around her shoulders; this left all five ninjas completely amazed by her speed and agility.

"I see you are already on your way to becoming an amazing Ninja Princess, Charlie… I'm Hanzo of Iga." _'Was he the young boy… Iga… He has to be!' _The man bowed and then looked up and made eye contact with the confused girl; that's when Charlie knew that he was that 15 year-old boy from her dreams; this is also when she noticed the new arrivals attire… _'They are ninjas… Wait, Hanzo called me a ninja princess… This doesn't make any sense… What the bloody hell is going on…'_

Charlie didn't know what to do next and on top of that, she started to feel strange as the 5 handsome men stared at her with curious looks and as she pondered everything she just heard, or realized. So, Charlie did what Charlie does best, and that is to ramble away from any situation…

"It's so nice to meet all of you," the petite girl said as she skillfully ducked out from under her grandfather's arm, who knew exactly what she was doing."We can chat later," she twirled away as her grandfather tried to grab her again, "but I must be practicing now, 'kay, bye!" Charlie quickly grabbed her bag and took off running up the stairs to her room while slamming the door shut.

Hanzo looked over at the elderly man with a slight entertained look in his eye due to Charlie's tactics, "What is she practicing?" The old man sighed and let out an amused chuckle.

"Ballet, but at this moment, nothing since she skipped the above practice floor and went straight for her room. We can watch her practice later I suppose, but for now, I will fill you in on this new world. So, please take a seat and make yourselves comf-"

"Did anyone notice her eyes?" Kotaro asked as everyone looked over at the quiet ninja.

"Yes… They were turquoise. Just like that stone used to be…" Hanzo sighed and turned away as he remembered being a 15 year-old boy looking upon the death of a mother and daughter as he watched the stone inside the necklace turn from clear to turquoise as the soul and bloodline of the ninja princess flowed into it.


	2. Chapter 2

**I apologize for the mistakes in the first chapter! I actually fixed them all almost a week ago, but I didn't realize I had to switch chapters from the export and all that nonsense! So! If you were confused, I'm sorry!**

**If you read the chapter with all of the mistakes, you should go back and re-read it, I added subtle but important changes.**

**Thank you! **

Charlie's P.O.V

As soon as I slammed my door, I took out my mobile from my dance bag to ring Maya. Once I heard it start dialing, I ran to my Queen sized bed and buried my face into my pillow. "Charlie? I was just about to give you a ring! I can't make it over to practice tonight. I realized I haven't even finished my final research paper for Psychology! Ah! I'm going bonkers! It's due by midnight!" _Crash! _"Well that's just GREAT, isn't it?! Charlie, I'll see you tomorrow… I'm starting to break everything…"

"Maya… Maya?" I lifted my head to look at my phone, but I only saw the home screen of apps and a rustic floral background. "…And she hung up…" I buried my face back in my pillow with a heavy sigh and tossing my phone somewhere on my bed. _I really need someone to talk too, and I definitely do not want to talk to anyone who is downstairs. But, Poppy does have some serious explaining to do... At least now I have an idea as to why he was acting like he had fallen off his trolley this morning… _My mind soon trailed off to the nightmares I've been having, and I instantly remembered seeing that 15 year-old boy again, who was unmistakably that older ninja in my sitting room, Hanzo. "If that _was_ Hanzo, which I know it is, then he would be about 34 now… that is, if I am going by my age and adding 19 years since that dream, or memory or whatever it is, to his 15… but the boy's age was just a guess… So, he very well could have been younger… Hold on… does this make me the… 'Unharmed body' they decided to use? Then that would make Poppy the 'new guardian'… Has my own Grandfather been lying to me my entire life?! Are we not really related?! …Am I not… really… _me_?" Actually saying the words aloud, I couldn't stop my tears from spilling out of my eyes and onto my pillow… "Who in the world am I…?" My voice was soft as I spoke into my pillow while I allowed my tears to silently pour out.

I didn't want to believe my own conclusion, but a strong part of me knew I needed too and another strong part of me was ready to accept whatever change my life was about to succumb to… My tears started to slow down as an overwhelming feeling of fatigue wrapped around my body as if it was suffocating whatever energy I may have had left. Not bothering to pull the covers over my body, I wiped away my tears and whatever traces of eye makeup I had under my eyes, turned to my side, and snuggled deeper into my bed as I quickly fell asleep.

….

"She sure has been sleeping for a while!"

"Sasuke! Keep your voice down, you idiot, you'll wake her up." _Too late..._

"Geez, sorry, _Saizo_… But, you have to admit. She is really pretty, and even more adorable asleep." _Good lord, this guy…_ _Did I hear him right? Yeah, this must be one of those reality dreams, so… no… worries…_

"Yes, but I don't know how I feel about her clothes… They are sort of revealing and very form fitting– "

"You say it like it's a bad thing, Kotaro… I like them much more than what women wear in our century. She looks more comfortable." _Hah! Far from comfortable actually… Am I that dim? This isn't a dream… Come on, Charlie! Get up!_

"Goemon, you're just saying that because she already probably thinks you're a pervert." I felt a slight shift on my bed. _Bloody hell? They really are in my room!_

"Who are you calling a pervert, monkey? I'm not the one who hugged–" Goemon stopped as I finally started to sit up; I opened my eyes and looked at to two ninjas sitting on _my _bed and 2 other ninjas standing to the side.

"The cutie is finally–"

"Honestly," I interrupted Sasuke and let out a small yawn before continuing, "all _four_ of you are perverts for coming into my room and watching me sleep..." I noticed Saizo slightly smirk at my remark and Kotaro bow to me as he started to speak.

"We are very sorry, princess, but your grandfather wanted to make sure you were all right… But, then he told us to stay in here while he and Hanzo discuss what to do next. Please forgive us." I smiled at Kotaro as a silent reply of forgiveness to his kind words; however, my smile disappeared into a confused frown from his choice of words as I looked down at my hands with my now loose ponytail hanging over my shoulder and draping into my lap. _Princess? He is definitely not calling me that in the manner Poppy does. Hold on, is that why Poppy has called me 'little princess' my entire life… _

"As well, your grandfather figured you would actually talk to us before wanting to hear him and Hanzo talk about their plans they have for you in the near future. He probably thought it would make it easier on you if you were more comfortable with us and the situation first." Saizo added, and I couldn't help but agree with him on that considering I had a feeling that Poppy has been keeping plenty of secrets from me and I wasn't quite ready to talk to him yet. _But I have been keeping my tattoo a secret… What am I thinking? That is completely different!_

"So, why don't you first start by telling us why you were crying?" I flinched at the sudden closeness of Goemon's breath on my ear as he spoke.

"What? I most certainly was _not_ crying!" I spat out and crossed my legs and arms as Goemon leaned back into his space on my bed with a slight worried and amused look on his face. He looked like he was about to say something back, but was quickly interrupted.

"Her accent is _so_ hot!" Sasuke let out with a husky bluntness, but was then smacked on the back of the head by Saizo; I couldn't help but slightly laugh to myself. _They are rather entertaining. Sort of like brothers… _

However, my amusement was suddenly replaced by an obvious blush breaking out across my cheeks from finally realizing what Sasuke said and how he said it; but, _for once_, I didn't find it annoying when someone pointed out my accent… Goemon lightly tapped his finger on my forehead to pull me from my slight daze. "You can always tell if a woman is lying about her feelings by looking at where she rests her head… I can tell you've been crying by the small amount of eye makeup that is stained fresh on your, um –"

"Pillow."

"So, why don't you tell us the truth?" Goemon finished out with a sort of arrogant and playful tone in his voice. I glanced behind me at my pillow and saw that I did have a bit of mascara residue on the light pink pillowcase that covered it. _Good lord… _I sighed as I finally took down my loose ponytail and ran my hand through my hair and letting it fall to my lap before setting my elbow on my knee and resting my chin in the palm of my hand.

"You're going to be a pain in the arse if I don't tell you, am I right?"

"Smart girl." Goemon smirked in the manner that people do when they knew they were about to get their way. I took in a deep breath and let it out.

"I don't feel like I know who I am anymore." I removed my chin from my palm and started playing with one of my curls as I thought back to the conclusion I made before I became completely knackered.

"Damn… She figured it out." Saizo said with a surprised look.

"Figured what out?"

"Sasuke, you really are an idiot…" Saizo sighed while placing his fingers to his forehead.

"What? She seems pretty confident! So, I don't understand how she doesn't know who she is!" Saizo let out another sigh to Sasuke and was about to smack him, but he stopped himself.

"What she and Saizo are talking about is the fact that she realized her soul is not exactly the soul she was born with." Kotaro spoke up and looked at me as I nodded my head.

"I did have some slight help, if you want to call it that... I've been having the same nightmare for the past few weeks about a gold necklace with a clear stone inside of it where the stone turns turquoise after a dying woman hands it over to who seems to be Hanzo's father. Of course, the dream isn't as vague as I just explained it… It's much more real… As if I've been there. Like I'm the one being shot with the arrow." I looked up and met the sincere eyes of four ninjas; however, Saizo and Kotaro looked as if it was a foreign facial expression to them. They were swiftly pulled from their gaze as they heard my iPhone go off. They all looked extremely confused…

"What the hell is that noise?!" Sasuke yelled. _Have they never heard a phone before?_

"Shush! It's just my mobile!" I looked around to try and find my phone, but I had no idea where I tossed it… I finally spotted it slightly tucked under a folded part of the comforter on the other side of Goemon, who then picked it up… I could see that it was Maya who was calling me.

"Is this what you're looking for?" He said with a playful smirk.

"Yes! Please, hand it over… It's my friend Maya, who is probably going mad over her paper and needs my help!" I tried taking it from him, but as soon as I leaned forward to grab it, I didn't realize how much the bed sunk down where he was sitting compared to where I was, and I ended up falling right on top of his slightly bare and perfectly sculpted chest. Since his kimono was partially opened, my hand and arm slipped through and brushed across his abs. "Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! It's just that you're so much bigger than me, and I just… I'm not coming onto you, I swear!" I quickly grabbed my phone from his hand and slid the screen to answer it. I could tell that the four men were about to burst out into laughter at what just happened and no doubt from the bright red embarrassed blush I was currently adorning on my face.

"Ah, Maya! How's your paper coming?" I placed my finger to my lips to make sure they didn't make a sound.

"_Not good at all! I don't know what the bloody hell I'm writing!" _

"Well, what exactly is your paper over?"

"Is she seriously talking into that little box?" Sasuke whispered in confusion at the same time I asked Maya what her paper was over, and for once the other ninjas were just as clueless as Sasuke. I looked at them with an annoyed expression.

_"I don't have a clue!"_ Maya yelled into the phone.

"Oh. So, she isn't talking to herself." Saizo said in a normal leveled voice.

_"Charlie?! Is their a man at your house?!" _

"What? Um, hah, no… So, about your paper–"

_"Charlie… Are you lying to me?! I can tell you're starting to do that thing that you do when you get –"_

"What _thing_?! Poppy is calling me for supper! Kay, bye!" I quickly hung up, so she couldn't keep pressing me. I then set my phone on my bedside table before looking at the others. "So, I answered your question, so why don't you answer mine: First, Goemon said that he preferred what I wore over what the women wore in his century, or rather all of yours' century, and you all acted like you have never seen a mobile phone before, so… care to tell me what century you're all from exactly? For the record, nothing you say will surprise me… I have already come to terms with the fact that this 'necklace' and 'turquoise stone' and 'Hanzo' and 'Iga' and 'ninja' are actually real, so go ahead and spill it."

"The 16th century." Kotaro said without any hesitation. My eyes went wide with shock as I soaked in what Kotaro just said. _The 16__th__ century…? How is that even possible? Surely they don't have a T.A.R.D.I.S standing about anywhere…_

"I thought you wouldn't be surprised, _Charlie?"_ The way Goemon said my name sent chills down my spine. Partially because it sounded sexy coming from his mouth and mostly because it sounded like he was about to molest me… _KNOCK, KNOCK!_

"C-come in!" _Why in the hell did I stutter?! _The door slowly opened and revealed Hanzo.

"Princess, ninjas… Dinner is ready." Hanzo stood to the side of the door as the other four quickly responded to his words and left without a single word. _I guess they must be pretty hungry after all… The 16__th__ century… Will I be returning there with them? No… I can't. I belong here… _I clutched my chest as I thought that because something, or someone, was telling me that I belonged in the 16th century with all of them… _No… That can't be… I have so much I've worked for here…_

"Princess… Princess... Princess! Are you okay?" I jolted at the sound of Hanzo's worried voice and sudden touch on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Princess! I didn't mean to frighten you!" He took a few steps back as he blushed in embarrassment.

"No, no! I was just deep in thought… That's all!" I gave him a re-assuring smile to make him feel more at ease… I moved my feet to the side of the bed, but hesitated before I stood up. _Should I ask him since we are alone? It's a bit bold considering I haven't even thought about it until just now… _I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. "Hanzo? Or is it Master Hanzo?"

"Whatever you prefer, princess…" He looked at me with curious and slightly sad eyes. _Something about this man made me feel comfortable and familiar…_

"All right… Master Hanzo. If you would, please call me Charlie, or at least when I'm trying to talk to you with familiarity." He gave me a caring smile.

"Then, _Charlie,_ you must call me Hanzo when you are speaking to me with familiarity." I gave a small laugh to how he sort of turned my words back around to me. I pulled my mind back on track to what I was going to ask him and took another deep breath to clear my head. _All right, here it goes…_

"Hanzo… I will be returning to 16th century Japan with you and the others, won't I?" He kneeled down in front of me with an apologetic look.

"Yes. You will, but not until you complete what you wanted to complete here." _Oh, Poppy must have told him about the 'Nutcracker.' _"If that's all, we should go ahead and go eat." I didn't say anything else, so he stood up and started walking to the door. I let a little sigh to myself as I bolted up after him.

"Wait!" I grabbed a hold of his sleeve and then ran into his back as he jumped in surprise; he quickly turned around and caught me before I fell back.

"You do have natural ninja ability… I had no idea you even moved. I apologize for almost knocking you down though." He was about to let go but my words stopped him before he did.

"Were you 15 when you saw us die?" Hanzo's eyes widened at my question. "And when I say us, I mean my mother and real body…" And what Hanzo did next completely caught me off guard… he pulled me into a protective yet awkward embrace; one that an older brother would do with a scared younger sister.

"I was 10 actually… I grew much faster due to my ninja training. Similar to how Sasuke did, except he is much bigger than I." He took a deep breath before he continued, "I'm sorry… I know you re-live that pain in your dreams… I'm so sorry..." With that, he quickly let go of me and left out of my room. _I wonder if that was the first time he ever witnessed murder… And now I know that the woman called 'Mai' was my mother, and the baby girl… was me. Well at least my soul was that baby girls… Ugh! This is just too confusing… But, how come I don't feel like that is the full truth… I know I technically have two sets of 'real' parents, but that's not what's bothering me… Something about this mother and child is not the full truth…_

I decided to skip dinner, and practice. I took off my thigh high socks and sweater and laid them on top of my bed: I took out my pointe shoes and toe pads, put them on, and then tied the light pink ribbon around my ankles: lastly, I grabbed my phone and found my ballet playlist that I use to warm up to. I turned on the lights to the room right outside my door and stepped out: I instantly met the wonderful sensation of pointe shoes meeting wood floor and my eyes quickly cheered up to what I saw in front of me. The upstairs "game room" was renovated to a sort of "ballet studio" complete with a mirror entirely covering the large wall and a ballet barre on another. I went to the front of the room, placed my iPhone on the doc, and pressed play. As soon as the music started, there was no way anyone could ever stop me.

….Time Skip….

_Fouetté… en dedans… Perfect… Finally. _As soon as my final playlist stopped on it's last song, which is the song of my variation in the _Nutcracker, _"Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy," I finally allowed myself to come back to reality. However, I had no idea that I had gathered an audience of six people, in which five of them looked awestruck to the point that I felt as if they would burn a hole through my body.

"I have never seen anything like that… This is 'dancing' in this century?" Goemon said as he looked at me like he saw me for the first time. I heard Poppy's familiar light-hearted laugh.

"It is but just a form of dancing, Master Goemon." Poppy said in a proud voice.

"That was beautiful, Princess. Just like the true princess you are…" Kotaro said, which honestly surprised me since he didn't strike me as one to say something like that. _Note to self, figure out why they keep calling me a princess._

"It's no wonder her speed and agility is much better than any of ours put together…" Hanzo said with a praising smile.

"Wait until you see her with a sword…" Poppy smirked mischievously. I couldn't take it anymore, and I started forming a deep blush on my cheeks from the stares of the five ninjas and a few of their compliments along with the proud voice of Poppy. "Well, it's very late… This old man needs to be getting in the bed… Staying up past ten takes a toll on me, you know."

"I believe I will be taking my leave to rest as well." Hanzo bowed to everyone and started heading for the stairs, but stopped to wait on Poppy. I quickly walked over to my grandfather and gave him a light hug, since I was rather sweaty, before he followed behind Hanzo.

"Poppy, I'm sorry for my distance this evening –"

"I completely understand, Charlie…" With that, Poppy headed around the corner to the stairs behind Hanzo; however, he wasn't completely gone yet… "Gentlemen, do me a favor and get to the bottom of that tattoo of Charlie's… I believe she has kept it a secret from me." I heard him laugh after that and finally make his way to his bedroom and closed the door. I soon heard the same from Hanzo's guest room. _Well, I guess the cat is finally out of the bag. _I sat down on the floor and started to take off my pointe shoes. _It honestly feels amazing whenever I take thes –_

"The bloody hell are you doing?!" I jumped and turned to see who the culprit was, but only to find a smirking Goemon sitting beside me. "Ever heard of personal space?! .My body, not yours. If I have not given you permission to touch my tattoo then don't!"

"Oh, so you mean I can touch you anywhere else but there?" He said as he placed his finger under my chin to get me to look at him. I quickly moved away from him.

"Um, if you excuse me, I have to do a thing, and–"

"Didn't you do this kind of thing to us this morning and then to your friend?" Saizo said with an amused tone as I backed into his toned chest.

"Eep! No! I don't know what you're talking about!" Saizo tried wrapping his arms around me but I was too fast for him and ended up slightly pirouetting away from him. "I have to shower! Um yeah… I'll see all of you in the morning!" I quickly dodged Saizo again and made it into my room with the door shut. I let out a sigh of release as I sank down my door to the floor.

"Sasuke is right. Her accent is rather sexy… But on a different note, that woman really is something. She's not like the women where used too." _Goemon? Wow… That actually sounded sincere._

"Why? Because she doesn't fall for your tricks?" _Hah! Saizo really speaks his– _

"Honestly, yes. It makes me like her that much more. We've only just met her and she's already full of surprises." _Um… Wow. Thanks Goemon… _I couldn't help but be a bit stunned by Goemon's kindness; he actually doesn't sound like a womanizer anymore.

"I have to agree with Goemon." _Kotaro?!_

"I guess Goemon is right… She might not be a pain in the arse after all. Her dancing was surprisingly beautiful _and_ she has amazing reflexes already. With a little training, just imagine how much better they would be." _Is Saizo actually being nice?!_

"And didn't her grandfather say she can sword fight?" _This is the most I have heard Kotaro participate in a conversation… Maybe I can get him to talk to –_

"I'm sure she's a natural. I heard her mother was one of the best female sword masters." _My mother… I want to hear more… Goemon… I wonder what he knows about my mother…_

"Maybe we can challenge her tomorrow, but now, we should probably go to bed." I heard Kotaro say in order to bring the conversation to a close.

"Well, can one of you help me carry Sasuke? The idiot passed out with a nosebleed thinking about Charlie–"

"Let's not talk about her like that, Saizo." _GOEMON?! Of all people… There may be more to him than he lets on. _On that note, I stood up to head to the shower, but stopped when I heard Kotaro's voice.

"Did you see how tall their beds were? I think this might be the best sleep I will ever have." I smiled at Kotaro's words and headed to the bathroom. _I think I will be just fine with this new path of mine… _


End file.
